1. Field
The invention is in the field of toys in the nature of a device requiring an activity to be performed within a set time period and games played with such toys.
2. State of the Art
There are several games currently available that include a timing device and the basis of the game is that a player performs a certain task within the time allotted. For example, a game called Perfection manufactured by Lakeside Games of Minneapolis, Minn. includes a toy device as shown in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 245,277 which has a tray with a plurality of openings to accommodate playing pieces of various geometric shape. The tray is spring-loaded and the device includes a timer. The timer is the tray moved to a cocked position, and a start button depressed to start timing. When all geometric-shaped playing pieces are placed into their proper receiving openings, a player may press the stop button to stop the timer. If the timer runs out before the stop button is pressed, the cocked spring-loaded tray is released to pop up in the device and disperse the pieces that have been placed in the receiving openings of the tray.
In a game called Guesstures manufactured by Milton Bradley Company, Springfield, Mass. the game includes a timing device into which a series of four cards are placed. The device is set and, upon start of a round of the game, the device is activated. Upon activation a timer operates to drop the four cards, at preset times one after the other, into the device. The cards each have a word thereon that a team member has to act out so that other team members guess the word and upon a correct guess, the card can be retrieved from the device if it has not yet fallen into the device. These games require some action to be successfully completed within the time allowed by the timer, but the timer devices employed in such games merely act as timing devices and do not require a skillful manipulation of the device itself to stop the timer within the timed period.